Emergent
by SaiyukiLover232
Summary: Katherine Eaton has suffered under the hand of Marcus for sixteen years. Abandoned by her brother at the age of eight, she became lost, slowly suffocating and breaking into pieces. At her Choosing Ceremony, Katherine does the only thing she can to save herself... she transfers to Dauntless. To survive, Katherine must emerge and become brave and strong, all while finding love.
1. For Me and For You

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent!**

 **I have** _ **always**_ **wanted to write a "Tobias little sister" story. Now I am. As a little side note, I will be using the ages from the movie, so Tobias (as well as Eric) will be twenty-four years old, making Katherine eight years younger than them.**

 **Emergent (** _ **adjective**_ **):**

 **1\. In the process of coming into being (notice) or becoming prominent**

 **~D~**

Katherine Eaton was gently shaken awake. She yawned as she sat up, stretching in a catlike way, and looked up to see her older brother. "G'morning, Tobi," she mumbled tiredly, blinking her eyes at him.

"Good morning, Katerina." Tobias replied in a quiet tone, smiling at her as he helped her out of bed. Katherine knew that smile was solely reserved for her alone. "It is time to get ready for school." He looked down at Katherine, his expression turning serious. "Make sure to be quiet. You don't want to disturb Father in the morning."

Katherine nodded her head; her eyes were clear with understanding as she looked up at him. "I know, Tobi."

Tobias sighed. He hated that his little sister – who was only eight years old – knew all too well the type of rage that Marcus had bottled up inside of him. He tried his hardest to protect Katherine, but when Marcus had his mind set on something and he was enraged, it was hard to stop him. _Katherine,_ Tobias thought, _you need to be strong_.

"-Tobi, Tobi… are you listening?" Katherine's voice brought Tobias out of his thoughts.

"What is it, Kitty-Kat?" Tobias grinned down at his little sister.

Katherine pointed at the closet. "I _said_ ," she put as much attitude as she could into the word, "that I wanted to wear a dress today."

Tobias strode across Katherine's little bedroom to the closet, opening it and pulling out a plain gray dress. He closed the closet door and laid the dress on the bed. He then pulled out a pair of gray leggings from one of Katherine's dressers and set it down beside the dress. "There," he said, turning to look at Katherine. "Finish getting ready, and _remember_ to brush your teeth and hair. When you are done, come downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. After you finish eating, I will braid your hair. Okay?"

"Yes, Tobi," Katherine nodded her head.

"Good," Tobias leaned down, affectionately messing up the top of Katherine's hair.

"Tobi, don't mess up my hair!" Katherine giggled, pushing his hand away.

Feeling a bit better about his morning, Tobias left the room to allow his little sister to get ready.

 **~D~**

After finishing a breakfast consisting of flavorless oatmeal and brown bread, Tobias cleaned the kitchen – washing, drying and putting away the dishes. He made sure everything looked spotless; after all, he didn't want to give Marcus any reason to be irritated or angry today. With the kitchen fully-cleaned, Tobias brought Katherine into the living room and they sat down on the couch together. He made quick work of her long, thick and curly black hair, pulling it back into one thick braid.

Katherine jumped off the couch and whirled around to face Tobias. She smiled at him. "How do I look, Tobi?"

Tobias stared at his little sister. With her curly black hair, olive skin, and angular facial features – high cheekbones, strong jawline, perfect eyebrows, and full lips – she looked like their mother. That was something Tobias had always been jealous about – as much as he looked like Marcus, Katherine looked like Evelyn. Though he could also see some features of Marcus in Katherine as well, having inherited her deep-set, dark blue eyes and long lashes from him.

"You look like our mother." Tobias said softly.

Katherine immediately lit up with happiness when she heard her brother say this. Evelyn was _never_ mentioned because of Marcus and his anger towards her, so Katherine grew up knowing next-to-nothing about her. Whenever she had the oppoutunity, Katherine would ask Tobias about Evelyn – what was she like? What did she look like? Was she smart? And as much as it hurt Tobias to talk about their mother, he would always tell Katherine a story about her.

"Come on," Tobias said, standing up. "It is time to go."

"Okay," Katherine agreed, following Tobias out of the living room and over to the front door.

Tobias helped Katherine put on her gray flats and schoolbag. He then pulled on his own shoes and slung his strap-bag over his shoulder. "You ready?" Tobias asked his little sister, and she nodded her head. He turned towards the front door, his hand hovering over the doorknob, just about to twist it open, when a voice stopped him.

"You two are leaving early?"

Tobias stiffened when he heard Marcus. He lowered his hand from the doorknob and slowly turned around, subtly shifting so he was standing in front of Katherine, blocking her from the view. "My aptitude test is today." Tobias stated, standing up straight, tall, so that Marcus would have no reason to narrow his eyes at him. "I do not want to be late."

"Ah, yes… your aptitude test. You know what you _must_ do today, right, Tobias?" Marcus spoke, his voice double-edged like a sword. To any other person, Marcus sounded like a caring and loving father. However, beneath the first layer, there was a cruel and hardened man who didn't care about his children.

"Of course, Sir." Tobias answered, keeping his tone neutral.

"Good. You two may leave now." Marcus dismissed them.

Tobias quickly turned around, opened the front door, and ushered Katherine outside. As they left, neither of them looked back.

 **~D~**

By the time the end of the day rolled around, Tobias was exhausted and anxious to get home. He had done exactly as Marcus had told him to during the simulation, making sure he chose all the options that would get him Abnegation as a result.

He walked down the cracked and patchy roads of Abnegation, keeping a constant eye on Katherine as she walked ahead of him. He began to allow his thoughts to drift as he walked. He wondered which faction he would've _actually_ gotten if he had not listened to Marcus… if he had done what he always wanted to and defied him, making his own choices and decisions. _Too late now_ , Tobias thought while shaking his head, _what's done is done_.

Tobias looked forward, his eyes landing on Katherine. She was smiling and nodding her head at people that she walked by. He knew that life would only get much worse for her if he left. Marcus would only have Katherine to direct his anger at… and Tobias would not be there to protect her, to make sure that she wasn't harmed too much.

 _But if I stay in Abnegation_ , Tobias reminded himself, _Katherine will stay as well when the time comes_.

Tobias knew that as much as he didn't want to leave Abnegation – a place where all his memories of his mother was – or Katherine behind… he had no other choice. If he remained in Abnegation, it meant that when Katherine was sixteen, she would also choose to stay because of him.

There was also a part of Tobias that selfishly wanted to escape for himself. If he transferred factions, he would no longer have to suffer at the hands of Marcus. He would finally be free to do what he wanted, to be _who_ he wanted. With Marcus, he couldn't do any of that.

 _That's it._ Tobias had finally reached his decision. _Tomorrow… I am leaving Abnegation_.

 **~D~**

Later that night, Tobias made sure that Katherine was ready for bed. She took a shower, brushed her teeth and washed her face, dried her hair then brushed it, changed it her pajamas, and climbed into bed. Tobias sat on the edge of her bed as he tucked her in.

"Tobi," she whispered, tugging on his hand as he went to stand up.

"Yes?" Tobias sat back down.

"Are you going to leave me?" She implored, looking directly into Tobias' eyes, her own shining with unshed tears.

Tobias opened his mouth to reply, but his words were stuck in his throat. He had no idea what to say… he hadn't been expecting Katherine to ask him such a question. Finally, he spoke, "No," _Yes_ "I am staying right here with you." _I am leaving for you_.

"Good," she mumbled. "I don't want you to leave me…"

Tobias winced. "I promise I won't."

Katherine smiled sleepily at him before rolling over to face the wall. Without another word, Tobias stood and left her bedroom, shutting off the light and closing the door.

 **~D~**

The morning of the Choosing Ceremony, Tobias was feeling nervous. All he knew was that he wanted to transfer out of Abnegation… but now, the real question was... which faction was he going to choose?

As Marcus read the news which the Erudite released every morning, Tobias just barely managed to swallow down his breakfast of toast. He avoided eye contact with Katherine as she happily ate her own breakfast. He couldn't look at her knowing that he had lied to her last night, and he only felt worse whenever she glanced at him with a brilliant smile.

 _I am doing this for her_. _I am doing this for her_ ; Tobias had to keep chanting to himself. He let it become a mantra, soothing him, and becoming the only thing he could hold onto.

When they left the house, Tobias couldn't bring himself to hold Katherine's hand; he didn't have any right too, not with what he was planning to do at the Choosing Ceremony. Instead, he let Marcus take ahold of her hand and walk with her, while he looked at the ground and followed along in silence.

They got on the bus and stood in the aisle, letting other people take the seats. Tobias looked around the bus, observing everyone. The Erudite with their studious stares, the loudmouth Candors, and the other Abnegations who rose to give up their seats. Everyone had one destination today – the Hub.

When the bus pulled to a stop outside the Hub, Tobias waited patiently with Marcus, Katherine, and the other Abnegations until everyone was off of the bus. Finally, they stepped off the bus, heading towards the entrance of the Hub. As they walked up the floor to the Choosing Ceremony, Marcus placed his hand on Tobias' back, applying a little pressure to the wounds beneath the shirt, as if reminding Tobias how much worse it could get.

They reached the floor of the Choosing Ceremony and stepped into the room. The lights were dim, the windows blocked off, the seats arranged around the circle of bowls that held glass and water and stones and coal and earth. Tobias quickly moved to find his place in line, between an Abnegation girl and an Amity boy.

Marcus hovered near Tobias. He leaned in and whispered, "You know what to do, and you know what the right choice is. I know you do."

Tobias stared straight ahead and nodded his head.

"We'll see you soon." Marcus told him before grabbing Katherine's hand and pulling her away. Tobias watched as they headed to the Abnegation section to sit down with some of Marcus' fellow council members. Amongst them, he recognized Andrew and Natalie Prior with their two children.

Tobias' focus was brought back to the front when Max, the representative from Dauntless, stepped up to the podium. He wrapped his fingers around the edge of the podium, and Tobias could see, even from the far distance, that his knuckles were bruised.

 _The Dauntless… do they learn how to fight?_ Tobias wondered. Taking in the sight of Max's knuckles was a confirmation to that question.

"Welcome to the Choosing Ceremony," Max said, his deep voice filling the room easily. "Today you will choose your factions. Until this point you have followed your parents' paths, your parents' rules. Today you will find your own path, make your own rules."

Tobias can see his father pressing his lips together with disdain at Max's speech. He knows that Marcus must think it is such a typical Dauntless speech, though he, himself, doesn't think anything of the Dauntless. They seemed to enjoy life…

"A long time ago our ancestors realized that each of us, each individual, was responsible for the evil that exists in the world. But they didn't agree on exactly what that evil was," Max says. "Some said that it was dishonesty. . . ."

Tobias was now pressing his own lips together, thinking of all of Marcus' lies, as well as the calm and selfless face he put on for other people.

"Some said that it was ignorance, some aggression. . . ."

With Amity, Tobias knew that he would find peace. There would be no aggression, no violence and no hatred.

"Some said selfishness was the cause."

' _This is for your own good'_. That is what Marcus always said before the first blow. He let Tobias and Katherine think that everything he did was out of self-sacrifice, that it was making them better people.

 _As if_ , Tobias scoffed.

"And the last group said that it was cowardice that was to blame."

A few hoots rose up from the Dauntless section, and the rest of the Dauntless laughed.

"That is how we came by our factions: Candor, Erudite, Amity, Abnegation, and Dauntless." Max smiles. "In them we find administrators and teachers and counselors and leaders and protectors. In them we find our sense of belonging, our sense of community, our very lives." He clears his throat. "Enough of that. Let's get to it. Come forward and get your knife, then make your choice. First up, Zellner, Gregory."

Gregory stepped up and took the knife, slicing it across his palm. Without any hesitation, he holds his hand over the Amity bowl, his blood dripping in.

Amity seemed like the best – and most obvious – place for haven, but Tobias knew they would not be right for him. They didn't need someone driven into their faction by rage and fear. It would only make Tobias stand out amongst them.

He watched as the names were called out. One after another, each person choosing the faction they wanted.

"Rogers, Helena." Max called out, making Tobias wince. The Choosing Ceremony was moving along quickly, fast-approaching his name, yet he still had no idea what to choose.

Helena chooses Candor.

Tobias knew what happened in Candor's initiation. He had heard the whispers at school. They would expose every single one of his secrets, and he didn't think he could handle that. Candor was _definitely_ out.

"Lovelace, Frederick."

Frederick, dressed in all blue, cut open his palm and let it drop into the Erudite water. Tobias liked learning, easily enough for Erudite. But he also knew that he was too emotional and volatile, something which would never allow him to fully fit in with the people of Erudite. Not to mention the fact that there was also growing tensions between Abnegation and Erudite, and if he – the son of an Abnegation leader – transferred to Erudite, it would most likely make everything worse.

"Erasmus, Anne."

Anne – the Abnegation girl before Tobias – stumbled forward down the aisle to the podium. She took the knife, cutting her palm, and held her hand over the Abnegation bowl without any hesitation. Tobias watched; to other people, Abnegation was a welcoming, kind community. It was considered the most loyal faction, in terms of Choosing Ceremony statistics. But most people weren't trying to run from a violent father like Tobias was.

"Eaton, Tobias."

Tobias did not look at Marcus as he walked down the aisle. He only looked at Max as he took the knife from him and walked over to the bowls. He would not choose Amity. Or Candor. Or Erudite. None of them were a good fit for him, and Tobias knew it.

He was only left with one option. And he felt that it could be the right one.

Tobias cut his palm and clenched it, allowing the blood to collect.

The choice was clear in his mind now. He had no doubt.

Tobias looked up, meeting the steady gaze of Marcus, as he held his clenched hand over the Dauntless bowl. He opened his palm, allowing his blood to drip into the coals and sizzle. As he walked towards the Dauntless, Tobias watched Marcus' expression turn to one of shock. He smirked.

Katherine, standing beside Marcus, looked at Tobias with tears filling her eyes. Seeing her cry made Tobias lose his smirk, wince, and quickly looked away. He couldn't look at her, especially knowing that Marcus would be taking his rage out on her tonight. _This is for the best_ , he grimly reminded himself.

As Tobias stood amongst the Dauntless, all he could think about was that he was free now.

 **~D~**

That night Marcus let loose with his rage. He threw furniture around the house, ranted and screamed about what a terrible son Tobias was, and took the belt to Katherine. She cried and cried as Marcus hit her, but that only made it worse.

When Marcus was done, he angrily spat on Katherine. "Get out of my sight." He snarled at her. " _GO!_ "

Katherine scurried to her feet, wincing in pain as she got up, and took off running from the living room. She hurried up the staircase and ran down the hallway, past Tobias' bedroom, and into her room. She slammed her door shut and crawled into her bed, tears streaming down her face.

When her head landed on her pillow, Katherine felt something hard and frowned. She lifted her pillow up to find a blue sculpture with a note attached to it. Her name was written across the note in Tobias' writing.

Lifting the note up, Katherine read it:

 _I am sorry, Katherine, for lying to you. I truly am. But I had to get out of that house – for me and for you. I had no choice. You will understand the choice I made when it comes time for your own Choosing Ceremony._

 _This blue sculpture used to belong to our mother. Treasure it, like I did. Do not allow Marcus to find it._

 _I love you. Remember that._

"Tobi…" Katherine muttered miserably, balling up the note in her hand. More tears fell down her cheeks and she angrily threw the note across the room. It hit the wall and fell to the floor.

Katherine picked up the sculpture and shoved it underneath her bed. She didn't want to look at it. It would only be a reminder of Tobias, and she didn't want to think about him. Not now. Not ever.

Turning off her bedroom lights, Katherine got back into bed, making sure to lie on her stomach, and closed her eyes. She would never forgive Tobias for lying and abandoning her.

 **~D~**

 **That is it for the first chapter!**

 **When I first named this story, I didn't realize how many other stories were called 'Emergent'. I am not changing it though, because I like it and it fits the story. (In my opinion).**

 **Leave me a review! :)**


	2. Do It My Way

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent**

 **~D~**

 _Eight years later…_

Katherine sat alone at the small kitchen table, trying to quickly finish her bowl of cream of wheat. Every time she took a spoonful, she grimaced in disgust. She had never liked cream of wheat; it was plain, icky, and mushy. But there also wasn't anything else that Katherine could really eat for breakfast.

Just as she was swallowing the last spoonful, Marcus entered the kitchen holding the news. Katherine stiffened and had to resist the urge to lower her head. "Good morning, Father," she greeted him neutrally as she stood up, carrying her dirty dishes over to the sink. She gestured to the pot on the stove. "I made you some breakfast."

Marcus sat down, put on his reading glasses, and opened the news. "Bring it to me."

Katherine stood on her tippy-toes and pulled a bowl down from the cabinet overhead. She spooned some cream of wheat into it, grabbed a spoon from the utensils drawer, and set it down in front of Marcus. He didn't even look up at her, so Katherine backed away towards the sink; she quickly washed her bowl and spoon, then dried and put them away.

 _It is time to make my escape_ , Katherine thought. She headed over to her chair, picked up her over-the-shoulder bag, and softly walked across the kitchen to the exit. As she walked by Marcus' chair, he didn't even look up or acknowledge her. Katherine breathed out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Katherine's bun of curly, black hair, using it to tug her backwards. She gasped in pain, dropping her bag onto the floor. Another hand wrapped around her upper arm, and she was spun around, coming face-to-face with Marcus. He released his grip on her upper arm – while making sure to keep his other hand tightly wound up in her hair so he could yank whenever she moved – and reached behind her head, pulling out her hair stick. He held it up, the tip pointed at Katherine's throat.

Katherine blinked away the tears building up in her eyes as she stared into Marcus' dark blue eyes.

"Did I say you could leave?" He demanded, looking down at her with a furious expression.

Katherine whimpered. "No, sir."

Marcus smiled at her. "Your aptitude test is today, _Katerina_." She winced as he mockingly used the nickname Tobias had given her. "You know the choices that you _must_ make… and you _will_ do it."

"Yes, sir," Katherine said right away, and, without meaning to, her eyes briefly flickered over to the kitchen exit.

"Do not," he growled angrily, "ever look away from me when I am speaking."

"I am sorry, sir." Katherine cried, feeling panic and hysteria rise up inside of her, threatening to burst out. She had to get away from Marcus, right now. It was safer to be at an arm's length away from him when he was angry – that was what Tobias had taught her.

Katherine lifted her hand to try pushing away Marcus' hand, the one that was holding the hair stick. She also began moving around, trying to weaken the grasp that Marcus had on her hair so she could pull away. Her futile attempts to escape only served to anger Marcus further.

" _Stop moving_!" He roared, yanking on her hair.

Katherine whimpered and stopped her movement. " _Please_ ," she begged, feeling pathetic. "Let me go…"

Marcus didn't move or do anything to let her go. Instead, he looked down at her, moving the tip of the hair stick closer to the hollow of her throat. Katherine could feel her body beginning to shake with fear.

"The aptitude test…" Katherine tried again, taking a different approach. If she was late to school, it would make Marcus look bad, and he wouldn't like that. "I need to go, sir."

Hearing this, Marcus instantly released his grip on Katherine, his hands falling to his sides while the hair stick clattered to the floor. His expression changed, becoming normal again, and he cleared his throat to speak, "You better go, or else you will be late."

"Thank you, sir." Katherine said, bending down to pick up her schoolbag and the hair stick. Before anything else could be said or done, Katherine whirled around and left.

 **~D~**

Katherine trudged down the sidewalk, taking her time as she made her way to the bus stop. Marcus had completely messed up her bun, so for now Katherine had decided to allow her hair to fall down to her waist and frame her face. She _loved_ her long hair – it was a reminder of the mother she never got the chance to know. Tobias had told her when she was little that Evelyn's hair had been long, flowing, and curly; hearing this had prompted Katherine to grow her own hair out.

"Katherine!"

Katherine turned around to see Caleb and Beatrice Prior coming towards her. The Prior siblings were her only friends, though she didn't mind. The brother and sister were good company, and Katherine liked them.

"Hello, Beatrice, Caleb," Katherine greeted them.

"Your hair, Katherine…" Beatrice began but she trailed off, not wanting to sound like she was prying.

"I couldn't quite get my hair to stay up this morning." Katherine lied smoothly. It was customary for women to wear their hair in a buns, knots or pinups in Abnegation, and as much as Katherine would like to leave her hair down, she knew she couldn't. "Could you possibly help me fix my hair, Beatrice?"

"Of course," Beatrice nodded her head.

Katherine handed her hair stick to Beatrice and turned around so her back faced the other girl. Beatrice worked quickly, pulling back and then twisting Katherine's hair, wrapping it in a circular coil around itself on the back of her head. She shoved the hair stick through to hold the bun together. "Done," Beatrice announced.

"Thank you for fixing my hair, Beatrice." Katherine said as she turned around to face her friend.

Beatrice smiled. "It was my pleasure."

"The bus is here." Caleb finally spoke, gesturing ahead to where the bus had just rolled to a stop. Other Abnegation teenagers were already beginning to board the bus.

Together, the three of them hurried down the sidewalk – not quite running, as doing such a thing would be frowned upon – to the bus stop. Caleb let Katherine and Beatrice get onto the bus before stepping on.

As the bus drove down the cracked and patchy roads, Katherine was jostled around. She held on tightly to one of the poles, trying to keep her balance. The roads slowly became smoother as the bus neared the heart of the city; the roads had been repaved five years ago by volunteer construction workers from Abnegation.

The bus passed under the elevated track tracks, and Katherine leaned against the nearest window, attempting to peer up at them. She was disappointed when she saw that the train wasn't going by, meaning there were no Dauntless nearby.

Marcus constantly complained about the Dauntless. He would always refer to them as hellions, hooligans, or troublemakers, and he didn't believe that they contributed anything to society. Katherine, on the other hand, didn't agree with him. She thought the Dauntless were interesting.

Soon enough, the bus stopped in front of the school and Katherine, Caleb, and Beatrice all waited before getting off. The Upper Levels Building was the oldest school of the other two, Lower Levels and Mid-Levels. The building was made from steel and glass, with a large metal sculpture out front, which the Dauntless typically climbed. Katherine had tried climbing it once, but it hadn't gone over so well for her. That was when she had met him… the boy that had helped her out…

"…erine… Katherine?" Beatrice's voice brought Katherine out of her thoughts.

Katherine blinked and looked at her best friend. "Yes?"

"I was just asking if you were okay." Beatrice repeated.

"I am fine, thank you for asking. I was simply lost in thought."

Beatrice didn't look fully convinced, but she dropped it. "So," she changed the subject, looking between Caleb and Katherine. "Our aptitude tests are today."

Caleb simply nodded.

"Aren't you worried about what it will tell you?" Beatrice asked.

"No." Caleb replied easily. He raised an eyebrow at his sister. "Are you?"

"Not really," Beatrice shrugged her shoulder, and Katherine could tell she was lying. "What about you, Katherine?"

Katherine smiled, though it was a false and hollow smile. "Of course not,"

 **~D~**

During lunch, Katherine sat by herself outside. As usual, she watched the Dauntless and couldn't help but feel jealous. They got to run around, have fun, and enjoy their lives. That was not something that Katherine could do. She was confined to a life she didn't like, and was slowly suffocating. All that Katherine wanted to do was be free to be who she wanted to, but with Marcus looming over her, she couldn't do anything.

 _If_ , she thought unhappily, _he has his way… I will suffer for the rest of my life_.

Katherine had only spoken with a Dauntless once. It was boy named Rekker, who was a year older than her. In a moment of selfishness, Katherine had stolen some kiwifruit from a crate in the Abnegation community center – the kiwi, along with other fruits and vegetables, were going to be handed out to the factionless – and traded them for a black shirt and a pair of pants, as the Dauntless apparently didn't have kiwi in their faction. Katherine had felt guilty afterwards, but had eventually gotten over it.

The lunch bell rang and Katherine stood up. She followed the flow of people back into the school.

"Move faster, Stiff!" Someone from behind shouted, shoving Katherine out of the way. She stumbled and nearly pitched forward into the floor, but someone grabbed her arm and pulled her back up.

"Thank you." Katherine said immediately, looking to see who had helped her. It was a Dauntless boy, and he was handsome with his dark, chocolate brown eyes and dark, brown skin. His hair was short and dark, brown and when he smiled at her, it looked white against his bronze skin. He was also fairly tall, having eight inches on Katherine's short and petite size of 5'0".

He grinned at her. "Be careful, Blue-Eyes."

And before Katherine could say anything, he simply walked away, not even glancing back as he went. As she watched him disappear into the flowing crowd, Katherine couldn't help but wonder if she would see him again.

Shaking her head – as if the action itself would help Katherine clear her thoughts – she turned to start walking down the hallway to the cafeteria. She didn't have time to worry about someone else… she had to be worrying about her aptitude test today.

 **~D~**

Katherine stepped into the cafeteria and headed for the Abnegation table. She sat down next to Beatrice and Caleb, and right across from Susan and Robert. Soon enough, groups of ten started being called and people began rising from their seats, heading to the test rooms.

Most of the test administrators were from Abnegation, and because the administrators couldn't test someone from their own faction, it meant that there was an Erudite and a Dauntless in two of the testing rooms to test everyone from Abnegation. With the rising tensions happening, Katherine hoped that she did not get an Erudite for her tester. She was really starting to not like them.

As Katherine waited, her gaze began to drift around the cafeteria and observe the other factions sitting in their own areas. The Dauntless table across the room was the most exciting-looking one, as always; all of the Dauntless are laughing, joking, playing card games, and even arm wrestling. Without even meaning to, Katherine's eyes searched the table for the Dauntless boy from earlier, but she couldn't find him.

 _No,_ she told herself, _don't concern yourself with him. You probably won't ever see him again, anyways_.

Sitting as far away from the Abnegation as possible were the Erudite. They were not loud at all, and instead, everyone at their table chattered quietly while reading books and newspapers. Those from Erudite were _always_ reading or observing something, hoping to gain new knowledge and become smarter.

The Amity sat in small peaceful groups, the girls playing some hand-slapping game that involved a rhyming song, while the boys talked softly to one another. A table over, the Candors all talked excitedly and made wide hand gestures. Some of them even shamelessly pointed at people sitting at other tables and talked about them, their voices sometimes drifting around the room if they weren't careful enough. Katherine didn't like this; she thought it was rude.

And finally, everyone at Abnegation sat in silence as they waited patiently for their name to be called.

Katherine sighed. She couldn't help but wonder which faction the aptitude test would tell her, if she didn't have to follow Marcus' instructions, if she didn't have to choose the food over the knife and throw herself in the path of the dog to save the little girl. Would she truly get Abnegation for her result? Or would she get Dauntless, Erudite, or Candor? That was something she would never know – though she certainly wanted to.

Caleb's name was called, and Katherine watched as he walked confidently towards the exit. He was only gone for ten minutes before he returned, sitting back down beside Beatrice. His expression was calm and easy, and right away Katherine could tell that he got the result he not only expected, but wanted. _And it isn't Abnegation,_ a little voice in the back of Katherine's mind whispered to her.

In the next round of names, Beatrice and Susan were called. Together, the two girls left the cafeteria. Katherine folded her hands in her lap and patiently waited for Beatrice to return. However, after several minutes had passed, only Susan returned to the Abnegation table.

Before the next round of names could be called, a Dauntless woman with straight black hair streaked with gray and small, angular dark eyes came into the cafeteria. She came straight over to the Abnegation table to where Katherine and Caleb were sitting. She leaned down and whispered in Caleb's ear, "Your sister went home because she wasn't feeling." When the Dauntless women straightened up, her eyes flickered over to Katherine, recognition flashing in them for the briefest second. Katherine ducked her head, feeling embarrassed and ashamed that she had listened in on something that wasn't any of her business.

The Dauntless woman exited the cafeteria, and the next round of ten names was finally called. Two from Dauntless, two from Erudite, two from Amity, two from Candor, and then: "From Abnegation: Ava Jacobs and Katherine Eaton."

Katherine rose to her feet, clenching her fists to keep her hands from shaking, and walked at an even pace across the room towards the exit. She reached the door first and held it open, allowing Ava to walk out into the hall first before doing so herself. There were ten rooms stretching down the hallway, each one separated by mirrors. These were rooms which were only used for the aptitude test, so Katherine didn't know what they looked like inside.

Ava stepped into room 6, while Katherine stepped into room 5.

Mirrors cover the inner walls of the room, allowing Katherine to see her reflection from every angle: her gray clothing, her short and petite frame, her face angular features, and the scar on her left cheek, which she got from Marcus when he threw a vase at her in rage. Blinking, Katherine tore her gaze away from the mirror. It was slightly disorienting to see so many reflections of herself at once, especially when the only day she was allowed to look at herself in a mirror was the day of the Choosing Ceremony.

Finally, Katherine noticed that an Erudite women stood in the testing room. She was beautiful with her thick, dark red hair that was pulled back into a high, professional-looking ponytail. Her bright green, almond-shaped eyes were startling and kind-looking; Katherine was sure that she would always remember them. The woman wore a dark blue pencil skirt with a light blue blouse and high-heels that Katherine didn't ever think she could walk in. She also noticed that the woman had laughing lines as well as a few stands of white in her hair, but none of that did anything to detract from her beauty.

"Hello," she smiles, "my name is Lily, and I will be your test administrator today." She gestured to a reclined, dentist-looking chair with a machine next to it. "Sit down. We must get started."

Katherine steeled her nerves and walked over to the chair, sitting down and shifting just a bit, trying to find a comfortable position. But she couldn't, and she knew it was because of how nervous and uncomfortable she was feeling right now. Giving up, Katherine simply leaned back and put her head on the headrest.

Lily busied herself with the machine and gathering up wires. After a few seconds passed, she turned and pressed two electrodes to Katherine's forward, then pressed a third to her own, attaching a wire to it. She tugged on more wires, attaching them to Katherine, to herself, and to the machine. Then she passed Katherine a vial of clear liquid.

"Drink this," she instructed.

Katherine took the vial, eyeing it warily. "What is it?"

Lily shook her head. "I am sorry, but I cannot tell you that. Just trust me and drink it.

Katherine nodded. She opened the vial, closed her eyes, and swallowed it.

 **~D~**

When Katherine opened her eyes, she wasn't in the testing room. She was in the Hub, on the floor where the Choosing Ceremony took place. She was standing on the stage in the middle where the bowls usually were. The lights were dim as usual and the seats that were arranged around the stage were completely empty. Everything was quiet, and Katherine couldn't help but feel slightly frightened at standing alone in this large room.

Katherine was just about to turn, planning on leaving the room, when she noticed that a table had suddenly appeared in front of her. There were two baskets on the table, one with a slab of meat and the other with a long knife.

Behind Katherine, a familiar voice, which she instantly recognized as Jeanine Matthews', spoke, "Choose."

Katherine knew what she was supposed to do… what Marcus had _told_ her to do. _But this is finally my chance_ , the same little voice from earlier whispered, _I can finally make my own decision. I can be the person I want to be, not the person Marcus wants me to be_.

"Choose," Jeanine repeats.

Katherine looked over her shoulder, but Jeanine wasn't there. She turned her attention back to the baskets. "Why do I have to only choose one?"

"Choose!" She yells.

"Fine, I _will_ choose, but I will do it _my_ way." Katherine said as she reached forward, grabbing the meat with her left hand and the knife with her right. The basket and the table immediately disappeared once she was holding the cheese and knife.

The door squeaked open and Katherine's head snapped up. Just as Marcus had told her, a dog came stalking into the room with its nose pointed at the ground. Its head lifted and Katherine could see that the dog was now looking directly at her. It crouched low and began creeping forward, its lips peeled back as he growled.

Katherine knew she could use the knife to kill the dog; however, she didn't want to slaughter an animal. With the meat, she could take the peaceful way out and distract the dog, but for some reason, she didn't feel like she needed to do that. With her decision made, Katherine tucked the knife into the waistband of her gray, baggy pants and bent down to her knees, setting the meat on the ground behind her.

The dog snarled as he inched towards Katherine, but she kept her body hunched down and her head low. She knew how to deal with feral dogs; she had encountered one before with Tobias and he had taught her what to do. She had to show that she wasn't afraid or being aggressive.

The dog kept coming closer, coming onto the stage, and soon enough, Katherine felt its warm breath on her cheeks. The dog growled and barked before finally sniffing her, getting to know her scent. Finally, something wet touched her right cheek and the dog stopped growling. Katherine slowly lifted her head to see the dog. It leaped forward, placing its paws on her thighs, and licked her face.

Katherine laughed, scratching the dog behind the ear. "You are a good doggy, aren't you?" She cooed, reaching behind her for the meat. She held it out in her palm for the dog. "Here, have a treat."

The dog picked up the slab of meat in its mouth and began eating it.

"Puppy!"

Katherine looked up to see a little girl with strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes running towards the dog. She was smiling and laughing.

"No!" Katherine shouted, trying to warn the girl. "You shouldn't bother a dog while it is eating!"

But it was too late. The little girl had made it to the dog and reached down, her hand going to touch the top of its head. The dog rose up to its four legs, snarling as its muscles coiled and bunched. Katherine leaped forward, pulling the girl out of the way as the dog pounced, and they rolled. She used her body to shield the little girl's as they rolled across the stage, stopping just before the edge.

"Stay down here." Katherine instructed the little girl, lowering her off the stage. She then stood up and turned to face the once-again angry dog. Before she could convince herself otherwise, Katherine pulled out the knife, holding it tightly, and ran forward, throwing herself on top of the dog. She hesitated just a second before she brought the knife down, stabbing it into the side of the dog.

Just as Katherine felt the blood of the dog dripping onto her hands and seeping into her clothes, the scenery around her changed. She was now standing in the aisle of a bus full of people. Looking around, she once again tucked her knife into the waistband of her pants. The person sitting closest to Katherine was a man with a newspaper lifted as he read it. She couldn't see his face at all, but she could see his hands… and they were scarred, like he had been burned or something.

Suddenly, the man lowered his newspaper slightly and looked at Katherine. He showed the front of the newspaper to Katherine. "Do you know this man?"

Katherine stepped forward so she could see the headline better. The title sent chills up her spine as she read it: "Brutal Murderer on the Loose!" The picture below the headlines showed a man with a plain face and a beard. He looked familiar to Katherine, but she didn't know from where.

"Well?" He demanded. "Do you know him?"

"Yes," Katherine told him honestly. She didn't see why she shouldn't. The man had just asked a simple question, and there was nothing wrong with that.

The man stepped closer to Katherine, the terrible smell of his breath hitting her nose, and asked, "Can you help me find this man, then?"

"I don't know." Katherine said, and it was true. She didn't know if she could help this man find the murderer. "I have no idea where he is!"

"You're lying!" The man suddenly shouted angrily. "I know it! You are lying to me!"

"I am not." Katherine responded calmly. She didn't want to cause a scene with this man. "I promise you that. I truly don't know how to find that murderer you are looking for."

The man looked around the bus and pointed an accusing finger at another man sitting a few seats down. "You!" He roared. "You are the murderer! You are the one who killed my wife!"

"No," Katherine spoke smoothly, keeping her voice peaceful. "He isn't."

"Yes, he is!" The man yelled, and he launched himself forward.

Katherine stepped to the side and the man barreled right into her, knocking her over. "Please," she tried to say over his shouting and wild thrashing. "Try to stay calm, Sir. I am sure that someone can help you find the man who murdered your wife."

However, the man ignored everything Katherine said and kept trying to get up to attack the other man. Knowing she had no other option, Katherine reached into the waistband of her pants and pulled out the knife. It gleamed in the light that shone in through the bus windows. Katherine raised the knife, hesitated like she did before, and plunged it into the man's stomach. He gasped in pain and blood came spewing out of his mouth.

"You," he gurgled, "could have helped me."

"I am sorry, I am sorry, I am _so_ sorry." Katherine chanted over and over again as the knife slid from her hand, dropping to floor. She shifted the man so his head rested on her lap. "I tried… I really did…"

 **~D~**

Katherine gasped as she sat up. Her heart was beating rapidly and her palms were sweaty. She looked up to see Lily, who had a troubled expression on her face. Not liking that, Katherine sat forward and wiped her palms on her pants, wondering what she did wrong. Did she somehow mess up the test?

"This isn't good." Lily muttered to herself as she turned away from Katherine and walked out the door.

 _Oh no_ , was all that Katherine could think. She _had_ done something wrong. Marcus would not be happy with her.

The door opened again and Lily came back in. "Sorry about that." She told Katherine. Her face was pale and tense.

"W-what… is wrong?" Katherine asked softly.

"Katherine, your test results were inconclusive." She finally spoke after a few minutes of silence. "Typically, each stage of the simulation eliminates one or more of the factions, but that didn't happen with you. In fact… none of them have been ruled out."

Katherine's mouth dropped open. "W-what… what d-do you mean?"

"If you hadn't picked the knife, the simulation would have led you to a different scenario that confirmed your aptitude for Amity. And if you had chosen the knife, it would have been Dauntless. But you didn't pick one or the other. You picked them _both_ , which didn't rule out either Dauntless or Amity." Lily explained carefully. "When the dog came, your reaction to him showed Erudite, and when the dog attacked the little girl, you saved her and threw yourself at the dog to attack it, showing Abnegation and yet again, Dauntless." She paused, letting Katherine absorb this before continuing on, "What normally happens is that the simulation progresses in a linear fashion, isolating one faction by ruling out the rest. Yet that wasn't happening. I altered the simulation to put you on the bus. You honestly answered the man, which is Candor and, if you think about it, Abnegation as well. When the man got agitated and tried to attack the other man, you tried to keep the situation peaceful and calm. But when it didn't work, you killed the man to save the other." Lily shook her head. "I honestly have no idea what –"

"Wait – er, excuse me." Katherine interrupted. "D-does that mean you don't know what my results are?"

"Yes and no." Lily said. "My conclusion is that you display equal aptitude for Abnegation, Dauntless, Erudite, Amity, and Candor. This is rare… and people who get this type of result are known as…" She lowered her voice making Katherine strain her ears to hear. "Divergent."

"I-I…I don't understand." Katherine stuttered.

Lily stepped over to stand beside the chair. "Katherine, this is not something you should share with anyone."

"I know."

"No, you don't. This is different. Being Divergent is _dangerous_ , and I _know_ what Erudite will do to you if they find out about this." Lily warned.

Katherine's eyes widened. "You… you won't report me, will you?"

"No, I will not. In fact, I deleted your simulation records and manually entered new ones. To everyone else, you received a textbook Abnegation result." Lily told Katherine, placing her hand on Katherine's shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Why are you helping me? Aren't you from Erudite… you should be reporting me to someone."

"I transferred to Erudite from Amity, and three years later, so did my little brother." Lily's eyes turned sad as she spoke. "They found out he was Divergent and they took him away, and I never saw him again." Now her voice turned dark. "I suspect that he was killed, but I can't prove that, and I can't leave Erudite unless I want to be factionless. So… be careful Katherine, and be wary. Trust _no one_ with your secrets."

Lily stepped away and gestured to the door. "You should probably go home now. You have a lot to think about."

Katherine nodded and stood up. She headed for the door and, just as she was about to leave, Lily spoke again.

"Katherine… if I were you, I would not choose Erudite. Not unless you want to get caught."

Nodding, Katherine closed the door and walked down the hall towards a back exit of the school.

The choice was now in Katherine's hands – it didn't matter what the test told her.

Abnegation, Dauntless, Erudite, Amity, and Candor.

Divergent.

 **~D~**

 **And that is the end of this chapter.**

 **I know… I didn't originally plan on having Katherine get all five factions. It was originally going to be Abnegation, Dauntless, and Amity. But when I was writing this chapter, that is the turn it took and I ended up liking it. And don't worry, Katherine won't be peaceful all the time or selfless. She also won't be getting amazingly strong from nowhere and be smart all the time.**

 **She'll be like Tobias, who says he just doesn't want to be one thing. She'll want to** _ **try**_ **being brave, strong, selfless, smart, kind, and caring. But it won't always work out and she will defiantly struggle with the choices she has to make and the person she ultimately wants to be.**

 **Leave me a review~ and let me know what you think.**


	3. Brave, Fearless, Free

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent**

 **~D~**

Knowing that her father would check the house log at the end of the day, Katherine simply decided to walk home. It would also give her time to think… to decide which faction she was going to choose tomorrow. She knew it was going to be a difficult decision, and she could only hope that she would make the right choice.

 _The aptitude test was supposed to help me... to tell me what to choose,_ Katherine thought as she walked along, _but it didn't help me. I am more confused than ever now._

Katherine knew she could do the easy thing and just pick Abnegation; after all, it had been her home for sixteen years and it held all of her memories, both good and bad. And as much as she loathed Marcus, the other people of Abnegation – like Mrs. Prior, Beatrice, Susan, and many others – were kind and caring. But Katherine also knew what the rest of her life would be like if she stayed in Abnegation – she would never escape Marcus, she would continue breaking into little pieces as she lived a life she didn't find satisfying, and then she would eventually marry someone, most likely Caleb, and start her own family. She was sure of it.

 _Abnegation is out,_ she decided right away, _only four more factions to go_.

Amity seemed like the obvious choice for Katherine. It was a kind, loving, and peaceful place with no violence. They believed in harmony and they were happy all the time, though Katherine didn't understand how they could be. However, she could feel it in her gut that she would not belong in Amity – she was running from rage, violence, hatred, and abuse, and that only would make her standout in Amity. She would never belong. _Not to mention all that happiness would drive me insane_ , she mused.

There was Candor. Katherine did not consider herself a liar; she had no issues with telling people the truth, though only when it didn't involve her own personal secrets. And in Candor, that would be required of her… she would have to divulge her secrets, let everyone know of Marcus and the abuse she suffered from him. That was not something which Katherine could do.

Erudite, the faction of knowledge, logic, intelligence, curiosity, and astuteness. Katherine actually liked reading and learning new things – it was something she enjoyed. She _almost_ wanted to make her decision and settle with Erudite; if she did, it would look extremely bad on Marcus, and that was something which would make Katherine happy to see. However, it would also probably make the rest of Abnegation look bad as well, and because she had already decided to transfer, it would be best to stay away from Erudite. Besides, Katherine also knew that her emotions would get in the way, preventing her from fully fitting in with the other members of Erudite. _So Erudite is a no go_.

That only left Dauntless left.

Katherine wasn't sure if she could fit in with the Dauntless… but they were free to run around, have fun, get into mischief, and that all appealed to her immensely.

 _Tobias is there_ , the little voice whispered, _if he didn't become factionless._

Katherine shook her head. She didn't want to think about Tobias. It hurt too much.

Looking ahead as she walked, Katherine felt a little bit better knowing that she had come to her decision tomorrow for the Choosing Ceremony. She was going to transfer to Dauntless.

 **~D~**

Katherine stepped into her house, making sure to be quiet. She closed the front door, slipped off her shoes and put them away, and wandered down the hall. She entered the living room and, sure enough, Marcus was sitting in his chair with his paperwork. _He is home early_ , she sighed, _probably because the aptitude test was today_.

"Hello, Father." Katherine smiled at him as she sat down on the edge of the couch. This was a smile she had worked on for years, and it was only meant for Marcus. It was a smile that showed Katherine was the perfect daughter who was pleased to see her father. "How was your day?"

Marcus set his paperwork aside. "You know what I want to know, Katherine. Tell me what your aptitude test result was."

Katherine dropped her smile. So today was one of the days where Marcus wasn't going to play the role of the caring, loving father with his fake pleasantries.

"Abnegation." Katherine said, and technically, it wasn't a lie. She did get Abnegation, it just wasn't her only result.

Marcus said nothing. He just stared at her with a blank expression. Then suddenly, he rose to his feet, his expression turning into a deadly one as he crossed the small length of the living room to where Katherine was sitting on the couch. He grabbed her right arm tightly, roughly yanking her to her feet. "You're lying!" He snarled at her.

"No, no, no." Katherine shook her head frantically. " _I am not_."

"You are," he spat. "You have the _same_ expression your brother had when he told me his results."

Katherine's eyes widened. He _never_ mentioned Tobias. "Please, Father," she said. "I am not lying to you."

Marcus roughly shook Katherine. "I am no fool." He growled. "I will not be convinced by your lies. I listened to your traitorous brother _and_ look where he is now – in Dauntless with a bunch of uneducated hellions."

Katherine wanted to defend her brother, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"What will your choice be tomorrow, Katherine?" Marcus continued on. "Who will you follow in the end? Will it be me, or will it be your brother who abandoned you without a word? Hm? Tell me. _Now_."

She didn't want to answer Marcus' question, but she also knew that she only had to endure him and his abusive ways for one more night, then she could be _free_. Steeling her nerves and trying to calm her rapidly beating heart, Katherine looked directly into Marcus' eyes and stated, "Tobias."

"I see." Marcus said simply as he raised his hand. Right away, Katherine knew exactly what he was planning on doing.

"Father, the Choosing Ceremony!" Katherine cried out in warning.

Marcus smiled at her, though it was not a typical smile of happiness or humor. It was vicious and cruel. "Well," he sneered, "lucky for me, you aren't staying in Abnegation, so it doesn't matter."

Katherine was filled with panic. She tried to pull herself away from Marcus, but his hand came flying down, striking her so hard in the face that her vision darkened for a few moments. Katherine's body went limp and Marcus let go of her arm, allowing her body to fall to the ground, her head smacking off the ground.

Marcus pulled his belt off and looked down at Katherine. "If you are transferring, then tonight I shall teach you a lesson you will never forget."

 **~D~**

The next morning, Katherine awoke in pain. Her entire body was aching, and she was sure her face was bruised. She carefully rose from her bed and slowly made her way to the bathroom. She took a long shower since Marcus had left early in the morning, because Abnegation was hosting the Choosing Ceremony this year. She enjoyed the feeling of the hot water on her sore body. When she was done with her shower, she towel-dried her hair, brushed it, and pulled it back into its usual bun. She brushed her teeth and washed her face, then headed back to her bedroom.

Knowing that she was transferring to Dauntless, Katherine decided to pull on her black t-shirt and the form-fitting black pants. Over top, she slipped on a loose, long-sleeved, high-necked gray dress and rolled up her pants so they were concealed.

Done changing and getting ready, Katherine bent down to her knees, ignoring the stabbing pain that spread throughout her body, and reached underneath her bed. She pulled out the blue sculpture that had belonged to Tobias and, before him, their mother. She stood up and set it on her desk. Now that she was no longer angry with Tobias for leaving – or as angry as she was before – she could fully appreciate its beauty. The sculpture looked like falling water, though it was only made from clear, polished glass.

 _And I am going to leave it here on my desk for Marcus to find_ , she thought. When Marcus saw it, she wanted him to think _and_ know that everyone in his life – his wife and his children – were gone now. He was going to be alone for the rest of his life.

"Only one more thing," Katherine muttered to herself, lifting up her mattress. She grabbed a small blue journal and a little black bag – both of which had once belonged to her mother – and dropped the mattress. The journal was something Katherine had found in the basement. The entries were about Evelyn's life in Erudite, her pregnancy with Tobias, her feelings, Marcus, and her pregnancy with Katherine. After that, some of the pages had been ripped out and the rest were blank. And inside the little black bag was a locket that Evelyn had left for Katherine.

Katherine pulled the heart-shaped locket out of the bag – there was a picture of Evelyn inside it, from her days in Erudite – and clasped it on, hiding it beneath her dress so Marcus wouldn't see it. She then tucked the journal into the waistband of her pants.

Having everything she needed, Katherine headed out into the hall and over to the sliding panel, where the mirror was hidden behind. She slid it open and blinked, staring at her reflection. Blue-and-black bruises stretched across the right side of her face.

"Today, I start my new life." Katherine told her reflection. "And I won't let some bruises stop me."

 **~D~**

The bus ride to the Hub was silent for Katherine. Several people stared at the bruises that adorned the side of her face; mostly Erudite and Candors. A few of the Candors even had the audacity to ask what happened, which surprised her. However, Katherine brushed them off, simply telling them that she had fallen down the staircase.

That had always been the excuse when Marcus had gone too far in his rage; he would tell people that she was clumsy and had tripped or fallen.

When they reached the Hub, Katherine and the rest of the Abnegation members got off the bus. In a big flowing crowd of gray, everyone walked inside together and up the twenty flights of stairs to the floor where the Choosing Ceremony took place. Mr. Prior stood patiently on the twentieth floor, holding the door open for everyone else to walk through.

In the room, Katherine took her place – between an Erudite boy and an Amity girl – with the rest of the sixteen-year-olds arranged in alphabetical order around the edges of the room. She peered down the line, seeing Beatrice and Caleb standing together.

The room slowly came to order as everyone quieted down. Katherine watched as her father stepped onto the stage and walked across to the podium, positioned between the Erudite and the Dauntless, to make his speech.

"Welcome," he said as his gaze scanned over the people in the crowd. "Welcome to the Choosing Ceremony. Welcome to the day we honor the democratic philosophy of our ancestors, which tells us that every man has the right to choose his own way in this world."

"Our dependents are now sixteen. They stand on the precipice of adulthood, and it is now up to them to decide what kind of people they will be." Marcus' voice was solemn as he spoke. "Decades ago our ancestors realized that it is not political ideology, religious belief, race, or nationalism that is to blame for a warring world. Rather, they determined that it was the fault of human personality—of humankind's inclination toward evil, in whatever form that is. They divided into factions that sought to eradicate those qualities they believed responsible for the world's disarray."

Katherine's gaze drifted from faction-to-faction as Marcus spoke the next part of his speech, the part that was spoken at every Choosing Ceremony.

"Those who blamed aggression formed Amity. Those who blamed ignorance became the Erudite. Those who blamed duplicity created Candor. Those who blamed selfishness made Abnegation. And those who blamed cowardice were the Dauntless."

Katherine didn't just blame one of the flaws of the human personality; she blamed all of them.

"Working together, these five factions have lived in peace for many years, each contributing to a different sector of society. Abnegation has fulfilled our need for selfless leaders in government; Candor has provided us with trustworthy and sound leaders in law; Erudite has supplied us with intelligent teachers and researchers; Amity has given us understanding counselors and caretakers; and Dauntless provides us with protection from threats both within and without. But the reach of each faction is not limited to these areas. We give one another far more than can be adequately summarized. In our factions, we find meaning, we find purpose, we find life."

 _Faction before blood_ , Katherine thought as her gaze moved to the bowls in the middle of the stage. She knew the faction you chose became your family, the place where you belonged… but she did not know if she would belong in Dauntless. She hoped she would. _If Tobias could, then I can_.

Marcus carried on, "Apart from them, we would not survive."

There was silence through the whole room as he spoke those words. No one wanted to be factionless. Katherine, as much as she had tried to be selfless and help the factionless, did not want to become part of them herself. She wanted to be a part of something, to belong, to feel wanted.

Marcus came around to the finishing part of his speech, "Therefore this day marks a happy occasion — the day on which we receive our new initiates, who will work with us toward a better society and a better world."

Applause erupted around the room, and Katherine wondered if she was the only one who wasn't clapping.

Marcus began the process of calling out names. One by one, each sixteen-year-old stepped out of the line and made his or her way up to the stage, to Marcus, where he handed them a knife. With each person, there was a new knife and a new choice.

"Pedrad, Uriah."

Stepping out of line – just a few people before Beatrice and Caleb – and walking towards the stage was the Dauntless boy that Katherine had met yesterday. She watched as he cut his palm and held his hand over the coals, rejoining his faction. It looked like she would be seeing him again after all.

"Prior, Caleb." Marcus called out after a few other names.

Caleb walked to the stage, glancing back at Beatrice over his shoulder as he went. He crossed the stage to Marcus, taking the knife from him, and turned to face the bowls with blood collecting in his palm. Caleb, looking sure of himself, held his hand over the Erudite bowl, letting his blood drip into the water.

Katherine's eyes widened; she hadn't been expecting Caleb to transfer, especially to Erudite. It also seemed that the rest of the people in the room also didn't expect it, because hushed whispers and mutters started filling the room, soon turning into outraged cries.

"Excuse me," Marcus tried to speak over everyone else. "Quiet, please!"

The room went silent.

"Prior, Beatrice."

Katherine bit her lip, watching as her best friend walked up to her father and took a knife from him, turning to the bowls. Beatrice cut her palm and briefly glanced at the Abnegation bowl before shifting her hand over to the Dauntless bowl, her blood dripping onto the coals. Katherine couldn't help but smile – it seemed she wouldn't be alone in Dauntless.

The names continued to be called, though Katherine tuned them all out until her own name was called by her father, "Eaton, Katherine."

Holding her head high, while trying not to care that everyone was looking at her bruise, Katherine stepped out of line and strolled down the aisle to the stage. She took her time as she walked over to her father, who was glaring at her, and took the knife from him. Turning to face the bowls, Katherine dragged the blade of the knife across her palm, wincing, and watched as her blood welled up in her palm.

Katherine looked up at Marcus as she held her hand over the Dauntless bowl, her blood dripping down, sizzling on the hot coals.

She was brave.

She was fearless.

And more importantly… she was free.

 **~D~**

 **YES! Another chapter finished! Whoo-hoo!**

 **The Choosing Ceremony is apparently hosted in this order: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. Because I made Tobias and Katherine eight years apart, and Tobias' Choosing Ceremony was hosted by Dauntless, then Katherine's should actually be Amity not Abnegation. However, I wanted to stick with Abnegation like in the books (it works because it is two years in the books between Tobias' and then Tris' Choosing Ceremony). Usually, something like this would bother me, but for the sake of writing this, I am willing to overlook it.**

 **Also, I know that the Amity drug their bread to keep the members of their faction happy, but I wasn't sure if that was known by people in different factions.**

 **That's it! Hope you like it!**


	4. The Fall, The Meeting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent**

 **~D~**

Katherine kept her head held up and her eyes trained ahead as she walked towards the Dauntless section. She attempted to block out the noise that filled the room, but it was ringing in her eyes, letting her know that her decision to transfer would not be forgotten. Some people were whispering to one another, while others shouted in outrage. She knew it had already been bad enough that Caleb and Beatrice, the children of a councilmember, had transferred, but now that she, the daughter of the leader of Abnegation, had transferred as well, it was not going to be good for Abnegation.

 _I needed to do this,_ she told herself repeatedly, _this was my only chance to escape_.

When Katherine reached the other initiates, she was greeted by Beatrice, who grabbed her hand and held it tightly. She noticed that Beatrice tried to keep her eyes from wandering to the blue-and-black bruises on her face.

"I see you transferred, Blue-Eyes."

Katherine turned to see Uriah standing beside her with a grin on his face. He, too, didn't look at her bruises and instead stared directly into her eyes.

"Yeah," she spoke softly. "I did."

"You're going to enjoy Dauntless." Uriah reassured her, as if he had noticed how nervous she was actually feeling. Without another word, he turned away from Katherine, moving to stand with two girls, one who was a pretty blonde and the other with a shaved head.

 _I hope he's right_ , Katherine thought numbly.

When Marcus finally managed to get the crowd under control again, he continued on with calling names. At this point, Katherine didn't pay attention to the rest of the people, having no need to. She was done – she had made her decision and she would soon be starting her new life.

The last person to be called was an Amity girl and when her choice was made and the Choosing Ceremony was over, the Dauntless began to move. Trying not to care that other people were watching her, Katherine pulled her dress over her head, revealing the Dauntless clothing she wore beneath. She rolled down her pant legs and tossed her Abnegation dress in the trash as she and Beatrice followed the crowd of Dauntless out of the room.

"Where did you…?" Beatrice trailed off, gesturing to Katherine's outfit.

"I traded for them." Katherine whispered back.

The flowing crowd of Dauntless headed for the staircase and immediately everyone started running, whooping, shouting, and laughing as they went. Katherine couldn't help but laugh herself as she ran down the staircase. This was what she wanted, what she _craved_.

By the time Katherine reached the first floor, she was tired and breathless and knew she would have no problem with not running anymore, but she kept pushing herself as the Dauntless all burst out through the exit, sprawling across the street and blocking the path of a bus. Katherine followed the Dauntless down the street and around the corner.

A train horn sounded throughout the air.

"Oh no," an Erudite boy mumbled. "Are we going to have to hop onto the train?"

"Yes," Katherine heard Beatrice answer him.

The train came gliding down the tracks, its horn blaring and all its car doors opened for the Dauntless. The Dauntless-born initiates, who were already spread out along the side of track, started running and jumping into the first few cars, leaving the new Dauntless initiates standing there.

Katherine started jogging alongside the car with the other initiates. She watched as others started throwing themselves sideways to jump into the car – even Beatrice had already done it. Katherine knew if she didn't do it now, she would fail. Gathering her courage, Katherine took a chance and jumped sideways, her hand just barely managing to latch onto the handle next to the doorway. She clung to the handle, attempting to pull herself into the car with what little muscle she had. She was almost inside when a hand grabbed onto her, helping to pull her the rest of the way in.

"Thank you," Katherine gasped, looking up to see that an Erudite boy was the one that had helped her on. He had shaggy blonde hair with green eyes the colour of celery. He was pale and solid and there was a crease between his eyebrows.

"No problem." He replied, releasing his hold on her and stepping away.

Katherine looked around and spotted Beatrice already sitting and talking with a Candor girl. Not wanting to interrupt them, she moved to the wall and slid down until she was sitting on the ground. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall, enjoying the feel of the wind rushing into the car from the moving train.

She didn't know how long she sat there with her eyes closed, but suddenly she heard someone shout: "They're jumping off!"

Katherine lifted her head and got to her feet, moving to see what was happening. Sure enough, the Dauntless in the cars ahead were jumping out onto a rooftop. The tracks, from the rooftop, were probably about seven stories up.

Gulping, Katherine backed away from the doorway, watching as the others talked, weighing their decisions while glancing at the rooftop with nervous glances.

"That's it… I am doing it." A Candor boy declared. He backed up slightly and ran, throwing himself out of the car. He went flying through the air, landing on the rooftop on his feet and stumbling a bit, but otherwise remaining on his feet. He grinned proudly.

The Candor girl and another Candor boy with orange-red hair jumped next, shortly followed by the Erudite boy that helped Katherine onto the train and _another_ Candor boy, who was large and broad. Then a couple – both from Erudite – jumped next while holding hands.

Katherine – along with a crying Amity boy, Beatrice, and the Candor girl she had been talking to – were the only people left in the car.

"Let's do this together." The Candor girl said, holding her hand out to Beatrice. "I don't think I can do it alone."

Beatrice glanced over her shoulder at Katherine.

"Go," Katherine told her. "I will be fine."

Holding hands, Beatrice and the Candor girl leaped out of the car.

Katherine looked at the crying Amity boy beside her and asked, "Are you coming?"

"I can't," he cried, shaking his head. "It's… t-too scary… I-I don't want to d-die!"

"You will be factionless if you don't jump."

"I know! B-but…"

Katherine reached forward and grabbed his hand. "Then we'll jump together." She smiled at him, trying to look reassuring and like she knew what she was doing. However, the truth was… she was just about as scared as the Amity boy. "I _promise_ I won't let go of your hand. You _will_ make it…." She shook her head. "No, _we_ will make it… together, okay?"

Slowly nodding his head, the Amity boy whispered, "Y-yeah, okay…."

"My name is Katherine," she told him as they backed up for a running start. She didn't want to take any chances.

"Aspen." He mumbled back, clutching her hand so tightly she winced.

 _The quaking tree,_ Katherine thought as she and Aspen ran forward, _how fitting_. They launched themselves out of the car and soared through the air. Katherine hit the solid ground of the rooftop and rolled multiple times, her hand being pulled from Aspen's tight grip. When she stopped rolling, she groaned in pain and sat up. Her knees and shins were in pain, and her left elbow was bleeding slightly. Not to mention that her body was still aching all over from Marcus.

Aspen was also sitting on the ground a few feet away from her, ruffling his auburn hair to get the gravel out. He looked up, his bright brown eyes locking with Katherine's, and smiled gratefully at her.

A terrible wail sounded through the air. Katherine's head snapped in the direction of the noise. A Dauntless girl was standing by the edge of the roof, staring down at the ground below, while screaming and crying. A Dauntless boy held her, trying to comfort her. "Rita," he said. "Calm down, Rita."

Katherine shakily rose to her feet, as did Aspen, and two of them walked to the edge. She peered down, gasping in horror when she saw the body on the pavement. It was a girl, her hair fanned around her head, with her arms and legs bent at strange angles.

Covering her mouth, trying not to throw up, Katherine backed away from the edge, bumping into Aspen. "No," she whispered to him, tears building up in her eyes, "don't look. You don't want to."

 _No one is safe_ , Katherine realized as she looked down at her shaking hands. Knowing this… that even the Dauntless-born initiates weren't safe and had the chance of failing made Katherine realize that her own chances were slim. _I am not going to make it_. She looked up at Aspen, who looked shaken and nervous. _And he probably has an even slimmer chance than me_.

Without saying anything to her, Aspen took ahold of Katherine's hand and gently pulled her along to where the other initiates were standing in a large group near an edge. She kept her head lowered, her bangs covering her eyes as she and Aspen came to a stop at the back of the group beside Beatrice and the Candor girl.

"Alright, listen up!"

Katherine's head snapped up when she heard that familiar voice. Standing on the edge, with his arms crossed, was a handsome man. _Eric_ , her mind supplied for her. He looked different from how he had nine years ago, when he was dressed in blue, had glasses, and his dirty blonde hair, almost brown in colour, had been somewhat long with his bangs sweeping across his forehead. Now, he was dressed in Dauntless black with two piercings above his eyebrow, a gauge in each ear, and bold tattoos running up his forearms and his neck. His hair was styled atop of his head, slicked and brushed back, while the sides were shaved. And now that he wore no glasses, his blueish-gray eyes more noticeable.

His new appearance and attire only made him that much more handsome, too.

"I'm Eric… I'm one of your leaders." He announced, looking comfortable as he stood on an edge that was probably over seventy-feet off the ground. "If you wanna enter Dauntless, this is the way in." He intertwined his fingers and rested his hands in front of him, "And if you don't have the guts to jump," he looked back over his shoulder at the drop behind him, and then back to the crowd with an uncaring expression, "then you don't belong in Dauntless."

"Is there water or something at the bottom?" An Erudite boy – the one that had helped Katherine onto the train – asked.

"I guess you'll find out," Eric replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Or not."

An air of nervousness seemed to fall over everyone.

"Well, someone's gotta go first. Who's it gonna be?" Eric questioned, his eyes scanning the crowd before him, eventually landing on Katherine.

The moment Katherine's eyes locked with Eric's, she was pulled away from the people around her, falling into a memory...

 **~D~**

 _Nine years ago…_

 _Seven-year-old Katherine sat on the steps outside the school, patiently waiting for Tobias. He had gotten a project for his History Faction class and because Marcus had claimed he was much too busy to pick Katherine up, Tobias had told her to sit out front and wait for him._

 _Sighing, Katherine crossed her arms and tapped her foot repeatedly on the ground. She was quickly growing bored of sitting and waiting. There was no one for her to talk to – seeing as how mostly everyone had gone home already – and nothing to do._

 _Katherine's eyes began wandering around, soon landing on the large metal sculpture that sat in front of the school. She had seen many of the Dauntless children climbing it and had always wanted to try herself, but knew that if she did, she would only get in trouble._

 _Looking around to make sure that there was definitely no one was around, Katherine rose to her feet and walked over to the sculpture, stopping at the foot and gazing up at it in awe._

 _Katherine stepped towards the statue and grabbed onto it, placing her foot on a part which jutted out. She tugged herself up, huffing in exertion as she went. She made sure to watch her feet and where she placed them as she slowly climbed up._

 _The higher she got, a feeling of excitement bubbled up inside of Katherine. "I'm doing it!" She exclaimed in happiness, sweat slipping down her forehead. She felt just like the Dauntless right now. "I'm climbing it!"_

 _Katherine moved her foot higher and reached up with her sweaty hands, trying to find something to grab onto, so she could pull herself up and go even higher. But that didn't happen. Her hands were sweaty against the slick metal, unable to find anything to grip onto tightly. Losing her balance with nothing to hold, her foot slipped and Katherine felt herself plummeting towards the ground._

 _She landed on the ground with a thud, the hard impact knocking the breath right out of her. She could feel her ankle twisted awkwardly, and she moaned in pain. Katherine remained laying on the ground, pulling her knees up to her chest so she could clutch at her ankle as tears streamed down her cheeks._

" _Tobi…" She cried, wishing her brother was here to help her, to make everything better._

 _Suddenly, a pair of hands touched Katherine, rolling her over so she was on her back. She blinked through her blurry, tear-clouded vision and looked up, seeing an Erudite boy with glasses and slightly-long, shaggy dirty blonde, almost brown, hair. His bangs swept across his forehead and he pushed them out of the way as he looked down at her in concern. "My name is Eric." He told her. "What is yours?"_

" _K-Katherine…" She sniffled._

" _Okay, Katherine," he nodded his head. "I want you to tell me what happened. Can you do that?"_

" _I-I fell… w-while climbing…" She whimpered in pain. "My a-ankle… it hurts…"_

 _Eric briefly looked behind him at the sculpture before returning his blueish-gray eyes back to Katherine. He gently moved Katherine's hands away from her ankle, rolled up her pants so he could have a better look, and prodded it with a finger. She hissed in pain and tried to jerk her ankle away from Eric's finger._

" _It is probably sprained." Eric noted. "Luckily, you didn't land with all your weight on your ankle, or else it would be broken."_

 _Katherine didn't say anything. She only sobbed harder, clutching at Eric's forearm._

" _I am going to move you so you are sitting up, and then I am going to lift you onto my back, okay?" Eric said. "Are you alright with that?"_

" _Y-yes…"_

 _Eric carefully helped Katherine into a sitting position, and then turned so his back was facing her and she would be able to easily grab onto him. "Grab my shoulders." He instructed, and Katherine did. He shifted her up so she was resting comfortably against his back and rose to his feet. "I am taking you back to the Abnegation compound. What is your house number?"_

" _Twenty-three." Katherine spoke softly._

 _Eric nodded his head and started walking away from the school, making his way down the sidewalk, heading in the direction of the Abnegation compound. Katherine yawned and rested her head against Eric's shoulder; all her crying had made her tired._

" _You have pretty eyes…" Katherine mumbled before closing her eyes and drifting to sleep._

 **~D~**

Katherine was jolted out of her memory by Aspen nudging her in the ribs. She bit her lip, wincing in pain. He had hit one of her bruises from Marcus.

"Katherine… hey, Katherine!"

Katherine blinked, looking at Aspen. "Yes?"

"We are the only ones who haven't jumped."

Furrowing her brows in confusion, Katherine looked around and realized he was right. She and Aspen – as well as Eric – were the only ones standing on the rooftop.

"Well, initiates," Eric suddenly snapped, causing Katherine and Aspen to look at him. He was leaning against the edge with his arms crossed, staring at them, or, more specifically, Katherine. She wondered if he recognized her, or if he was simply looking at the scar on her left cheek _or_ the bruises on the right side of her face – maybe it was both. "Are you going to jump or not?"

Aspen went pale in the face as he looked at the edge that everyone else had jumped off.

"It is okay," Katherine told him reassuringly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You jump first. I will be right behind you."

Aspen nodded his head and stepped forward to the edge, climbing up. He glanced over his shoulder at Katherine and she nodded her head, smiling encouragingly. Gulping, Aspen stepped off the edge, falling out of sight.

"You're next." Eric said, gesturing for Katherine to come over to the edge.

Tugging nervously on the bottom of her shirt, Katherine walked over to edge and looked down. The edge formed one side of a square with three other buildings. In the center of the square was a huge hole in concrete, and Katherine couldn't see what was at the bottom of it. She knew it had to be safe – all the other initiates had jumped down, but that still didn't make her feel any better.

Clearly growing irritated with her, Eric jumped onto the edge and leaned down, grabbing Katherine and roughly pulling her up onto the edge with him. Katherine yelped in surprise and clutched onto Eric's arm to keep her balance. "Jump already, initiate," he snarled in her ear. "Or else I'll push you."

"J-just give me a _moment_." Katherine nearly snapped at him. Surprise flooded across Eric's face when he heard her tone. She, too, was surprised at herself – she had _never_ used that kind of tone with anyone before.

The surprise on Eric's face disappeared in an instant, replaced by an angry expression. Katherine knew right away she had just doomed herself.

"Well then, initiate," Eric smirked dangerously at her. "Have a good fall."

"What -?" Katherine began in confusion, only to have her sentence cut short when Eric pushed her. Eyes widening in panic, Katherine flailed her arms about and grabbed the front of Eric's jacket as she fell, pulling him down with her.

They tumbled through the air, the wind howling in Katherine's ears as she desperately clutched at Eric, squeezing her eyes shut. They hit something at the bottom – something that cradled Eric's body – and Katherine had the wind knocked out of her as she landed on Eric's chest.

Just as suddenly as they had landed, Eric shoved Katherine off of him and she rolled to the side, laying on her back as she realized that she was in a huge net. She felt it moving as Eric shifted around and easily jumped off.

"What the hell happened?" She heard someone ask. It was another familiar sounding voice.

"Stupid initiate pulled me off the edge with her." Eric snapped in irritation. "Four, get her out of the net!"

A pair of hands reached towards her and Katherine took them, pulling herself across the net. She rolled off, though before she could hit the ground, she was caught and placed on her feet. Katherine looked up to see a familiar pair of dark blue eyes that she hadn't seen in eight years.

 **~D~**

 **And that concludes the fourth chapter!**

 **I went back and re-read through Divergent and realized there was an Amity boy on the train who had failed to jump off. I decided to have him make it, because I thought it would be interesting to add another character.**

 **Anyways, my little lovelies, leave me a review!**


	5. Overwhelmed

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent**

 **I have the worst cold right now! As I wrote this chapter, I could barely focus or keep my eyes open, so I hope it didn't turn out terrible…**

 **~D~**

"T-Tobias…" Katherine spoke in a low and shaky voice, as she looked up and stared at her brother. He had changed a lot in the eight years since he had left Abnegation; he was taller now, standing at the height of 6'0", and his arms and forearms were distinct from physical activity. His dark brown, almost black, hair was cropped short, though Katherine could tell it was just slightly longer than the length it had been in Abnegation. "I…"

Tobias stared right back at Katherine, not saying anything. His eyes travelled from the scar on her left cheek to the bruises on the right side of her face before he finally made eye contact with her. _He does not look happy_ , Katherine noted as her hands started to shake. She wanted to open her mouth, to say something more, but she could not seem to form a sentence. Her words kept getting stuck in her throat, simply because she was just too shocked.

Katherine knew her brother had transferred to Dauntless, but she did not know whether or not he had made it through initiation, and, if he had, she certainly did not expect to be seeing him this soon… only moments after arriving at the Dauntless Headquarters.

Feeling consumed by all her emotions and not even caring that there were other people around, or that Eric's sharp eyes were focused on her and her brother, Katherine reached forward to wrap her arms around Tobias, wanting to hug him tightly and never let him go.

But that did not happen.

Tobias knocked Katherine's hands away from him. "What is your name, initiate?"

Katherine blinked in surprise. "W-what?"

"I said," his voice was deep and rumbling, "what is your name, initiate?"

"I… er…" Katherine attempted to say something, but she couldn't. This was not what she had been expecting her reunion with Tobias to be like.

"Do not make me repeat myself, initiate." He snapped at her.

"Say something, Stiff! Do you not have a tongue?" Someone from behind shouted. It was the Candor boy with angelic features, the one who had jumped out of the train first.

Katherine flushed in embarrassment.

Sighing in frustration, Tobias said, "You can choose new name if you want, too. But make it a good one, you don't get to pick again."

Katherine bit her lip. Her first thought was to change her name to 'Katerina', but a rush of childishness filled her. She didn't want to use a nickname that Tobias had given her, especially with the way he was treating her right now. Narrowing her eyes at her brother, she firmly stated, "Katherine."

"Finally," he muttered before looking over his shoulder and shouting, "Last jumper – Katherine!"

Katherine ducked her head and moved to stand in line with the other initiates. She was standing in-between Aspen and Beatrice.

"No name change?" Aspen leaned over to whisper to her.

"No," she mumbled back. "I like my name."

"I changed my name to Ash."

Not wanting to hurt Aspen's feelings, Katherine hummed back in acknowledgement, though she was not really paying attention to him or what he was saying. She was distracted as she stood on her tippy toes – in an attempt see over the heads of the people surrounding her – and searched the crowd, looking for Eric. She didn't exactly know why she wanted to see him – she just _did_.

Not seeing Eric anywhere in the crowd, Katherine crossed her arms and sighed, while thinking, _he must have left already_.

"Are you okay?"

Katherine turned to look at Beatrice. "I am fine, Beatrice, but thanks for asking."

"It is Tris now." She paused, then added, "I felt like I needed a change."

Katherine smiled. "I like your new name – it suits you."

Before Tris had a chance to reply, Tobias' voice rung throughout the air.

"Follow us!" He shouted, drawing the attention of the initiates. He was standing next to a dark-haired woman who had piercings in her eyebrow, lip, and ear. Without even looking to see if anyone was following them, Tobias and the woman turned on their heels and started walking away.

 **~D~**

Katherine and the other initiates followed her brother and the dark-haired woman down a narrow tunnel. As they walked, Katherine's eyes flickered about, observing her surroundings. The walls were made of stone, with sloping ceilings, and the tunnel was lit at long intervals.

The crowd came to stop.

"This is where we divide." Tobias stated. He gestured to the dark-haired woman beside him. "Dauntless-born initiates go with Lauren, the rest of you stay with me."

Lauren and the Dauntless-born initiates disappeared down another part of the tunnel. Seeing as how most of the initiates were from Dauntless, there was only Katherine and ten others left. In total, there was five Candor, three Erudite, two Abnegation, and one Amity.

"Most of the time I work in the control room, but for the next few weeks, I am your instructor," Tobias informed the crowd of initiates before him. "My name is Four."

Katherine wondered where that nickname came from.

"Four? Like the number?" Tris' new Candor friend asked.

Tobias said nothing as he just stared at the Candor girl, his expression flat. Katherine bit her lip, knowing her brother was irritated; after all, that was the _same_ look he would give her whenever she had done something to annoy or anger him.

Finally, Tobias spoke, "What is your name?"

"Christina."

"Well then, Christina." Tobias narrowed his eyes at her. "Keep your mouth shut, because I don't like listening to smart-mouth Candors and their comments."

Christina immediately nodded her head, while Katherine covered her mouth with one of her hands, trying to stop herself from laughing. She had not been expecting her brother to snap like that. Before, Tobias would only snap at people who had picked on her at school. In front of adults, however, he was the perfect Abnegation son – quiet and helpful. That clearly was not the case anymore. It seemed like Tobias was no longer concerned with how others perceived him – it didn't matter to him whether they thought he was quiet or rude.

 _It is because Marcus isn't here to control Tobias,_ Katherine realized as she clenched her shaking hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms. She could feel her emotions – her joy and relief over never having to see, or live with, Marcus again; her sadness and anger over Tobias' treatment of her during their first reunion in eight years; her nervousness and anxiety over starting a new life; _everything_ she was feeling right now – surging up. The reality of the situation was finally sinking in with her. _And he cannot control me either._

"Initiate, what are you doing?"

Katherine looked up with a startled expression. She had been so consumed by her thoughts and emotions that she hadn't noticed that her brother had started to lead the initiates away, walking further down the narrow tunnel, in the opposite direction of where Lauren and the Dauntless-born had gone.

"Do not make me repeat my question." Tobias said as he pushed his way through the initiates, moving from the front of the group to the back so he could see Katherine better. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her, an expectant expression on his face as he waited for her to answer his question.

Katherine opened her mouth to speak, not wanting to be snapped at by her brother like Christina, but her words failed her. All of her emotions and exhaustion came crashing down over her in a single wave, hitting her hard and making her feel dizzy. Katherine's knees gave out on her and she slumped forward, her body crashing to the ground. Tobias just barely made it to her in time to catch her, stopping her from smacking her head of the concrete floor.

"T-Tobi…" Katherine mumbled to him before closing her eyes, allowing the darkness to pull her down under.

 **~D~**

 _Katherine was awoken from her peaceful nap when she felt herself being shifted around. She opened her eyes, blinking tiredly and yawning. She noticed that she was no longer resting against Eric's back, but was instead being carried in his arms, her weight supported on his hip and her own arms wrapped loosely around his neck._

" _Finally awake from your nap, sleepyhead." Eric said in a teasing tone, having noticed she was awake. "We are almost at your house."_

 _Sure enough, Eric was walking down the sidewalk of the Abnegation compound. She could spot her house just down the street and, without even realizing it, tightened her grip around Eric's neck._

" _Is something wrong?" He asked her._

 _Katherine shook her head. "No."_

 _Eric did not look convinced, but he also didn't say anything more seeing as how he had arrived at number twenty-three. He walked up the path to the front door of the small, gray house. Supporting Katherine with one arm, he used his free hand to knock on the door._

 _It was a full minute before the door finally opened. Marcus stood there with his reading glasses on. Once he saw Katherine in Eric's arms with her puffy red eyes from crying, irritation briefly flashed across his face before quickly disappearing, being replaced with worry and concern._

" _What is going on?" Marcus questioned, his gaze flickering between Eric and Katherine._

" _Your daughter had an accident, sir." Eric answered. "She twisted her ankle and could not walk, so I helped her home."_

 _Marcus' jaw twitched. "How did this happen?"_

" _She tripped when she was walking down the steps at the front of the school." Eric lied smoothly. Something in him was telling him to lie, to not to let Katherine's father know what had really happened, and when Eric got a gut-feeling, he usually didn't ignore it._

" _I see." Marcus nodded his head. "Thank you for your help, young man." He held his arms up. "I will be taking my daughter from you now."_

 _Reluctantly, Eric handed Katherine over to Marcus; however, despite being in Marcus' arms, she latched onto Eric's blue shirt, tugging on it and refusing to let go as she looked at him with pleading eyes. Eric's gut clenched. It was almost as though she was silently begging him to take her back and run._

" _Katherine," Marcus' tone of voice seemed to border on the edge of dangerous. It sent a tingle of nervousness down Eric's spine. "Let go of the young man's shirt."_

 _Biting her lip, Katherine released her grip on Eric's shirt._

" _What is your name, young man?" Marcus asked._

" _Eric Coulter, sir."_

" _Well then, Mr. Coulter, I will be sure to let Jeanine know what a help you have been today." Marcus told him._

 _Eric did not take his eyes off Katherine as he replied, "Of course, sir, thank you."_

 _Marcus gave Eric a tight-lipped smile before closing the front door. He turned on his heel – his grip on Katherine tightening painfully, causing her to wince – and crossed the foyer to a small little table, opening its single drawer, and pulled out a key. With the key in his free hand, Marcus headed up the staircase with Katherine to the second floor, walking down the hallway to the end, where a closet door was situated._

" _You have been a very bad girl today, Katherine." Marcus informed his daughter as he unlocked the closet door. "You have been very selfish; you made someone take time out of their own day to help you, and you distracted me from my work." He opened the door and set Katherine down on the floor of the closet. "You need to be punished; it is the only way you can learn to no longer be the selfish little girl you are."_

" _No," Katherine cried, tears slipping down her cheeks. "Daddy, please!"_

" _This is for your own good, Katherine. You will later thank me when you are no longer selfish." Marcus said, closing the closet door. Katherine could hear him lock it._

 _Whimpering, Katherine crawled to the back of the closet, moving close to the wall. She pulled her knees up to her chest, curling into a ball, attempting to make herself as small as possible. Closing her eyes, Katherine silently willed time to go by quickly._

 **~D~**

Katherine drifted in-and-out of unconsciousness. She was never able to open her eyes, her exhaustion wearing her down, always making her fall back asleep. Sometimes she could hear people moving around and talking near her bed, though they were always quiet, so Katherine couldn't hear everything they were saying. She would only catch snippets of their conversations.

"…bruised all over…"

"…find out who…"

"...she is weak… fainting…"

"…Eric, there is no need…."

At one point, Katherine felt someone grab her hand and hold it tightly. "I am so sorry, Katherine." The familiar voice of Tobias whispered to her. "I should have stayed… I should have been there to protect you, but I wasn't." He squeezed her hand. "I hope you can forgive me."

When she heard Tobias say that to her, Katherine desperately wished she could have opened her eyes. She wanted to tell her brother that it wasn't his fault, that he had done everything he had to in order to survive and escape Marcus. She wanted to let him know that she also finally understood what he meant in his letter. But she couldn't do it – she wasn't even able to muster up the energy to squeeze Tobias' hand back.

Instead, Katherine felt her brother pull his hand from hers and heard him stand up to leave. She wanted to cry at him to stay with her, to hold her hand again and read stories to her, just like he used to do when she was little. That also didn't happen.

As her brother walked away from her bed, Katherine drifted back into her dreams.

 **~D~**

When Katherine finally opened her eyes, she immediately winced and covered her eyes to block out the shining light from above. Moving slowly and carefully, she pulled herself into a sitting position and rested against all the pillows stacked behind her, biting her lip to keep from groaning in pain. Her entire body was still aching and her head was pounding.

"You are finally awake." A voice spoke, coming somewhere from the right of Katherine's bed. "That is good."

Katherine lowered her hand, blinking several times to help her eyes adjust to the light of the room and looked to the side of her bed to see a tall, stern-looking woman. Her black hair was combed back into a tight bun and her dark eyes were serious. Katherine could also see a tattoo peeking out from the top of her deep red shirt.

"W-who are y-you?" Katherine croaked. Her throat was feeling dry and rough.

"Harlow." The woman answered. "How are you feeling?"

"F-fine." Katherine lied.

Harlow rolled her eyes. "You are a terrible liar; you should work on that." She then gestured to the bedside table where a cup of water had been placed. "Drink some water, I'll be right back."

Katherine took the cup of water, watching as Harlow walked away. The dark-haired Dauntless woman headed into a room – that was obviously her office – through an open doorway situated at the end of the infirmary, opposite to the large double-doors which were most likely the exit.

As she sipped her water, Katherine looked around the infirmary. The room was large, spacious, and long; there were plenty of beds lining the walls with bedside tables, as well as curtains to draw around the beds for privacy. At some beds, there was either one or two chairs for visitors. Dark cabinets and medical machines and supplies also filled the room. There was no windows, and the lights hanging from the ceiling were bright.

Harlow soon returned to Katherine's bedside, holding a vial of yellowish-orange liquid. She held it out for Katherine to take. "Drink this," she instructed. "It will –"

"-taste terrible and burn your throat, but it will also work to heal my injuries more quickly." Katherine interjected as she took the vial for Harlow, downing it in one go. She grimaced at the taste. "I know how the healing serum works."

Harlow raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Katherine wondered how she was able to do that. Tobias could do it as well, but Katherine had never quite managed to do the single, risen eyebrow look.

"An Abnegation transfer knowing how the healing serum works – now that is unusual." Harlow commented. She paused for a moment, then added, "Does it have something to do with all those bruises you have? Or that scar?"

Katherine tried to look casual and keep her expression neutral as she said, "I am clumsy."

Harlow tsked. "Lying again."

"How… how long have I been in here for?" Katherine asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Nearly three days. You were emotionally overwhelmed, exhausted, and injured. To heal yourself, your body just… shut down and went to sleep." Harlow explained.

Katherine's eyes widened. "Three days!" She spluttered. "B-but what about initiation?"

"It has already started. Which isn't good, because you are now three days behind, Stiff."

"Oh no…" Katherine groaned into her hands. She then looked back up at Harlow, finally realizing the woman had called her an 'Abnegation transfer' before and was now calling her a 'Stiff'. "Uh… excuse me… but how do you know I am from Abnegation?" After all, she hadn't even been wearing Abnegation clothing.

"Gossip spreads here. People are talking about you – you've become _very_ popular around the Dauntless Headquarters already." Harlow informed Katherine. "You pulled off your Abnegation dress at the Choosing Ceremony to reveal Dauntless clothing underneath – scandalous work there, Stiff – and then you pulled _Eric_ off the edge with you." She shook her head when she said the last part. "You are going to regret doing that."

"No, no, no, that is all wrong." Katherine crossed her arms stubbornly. "I didn't mean to. I – he pushed me off the edge! I panicked and grabbed him."

"That won't matter to Eric. You pissed him off and now you're on his bad side; you better prepare yourself." Harlow then sighed. "I have to go call Four now. He was instructed to take you to see Max when you woke up." She turned to leave, but glanced back at Katherine. "Will you be okay by yourself?"

"Yes," Katherine mumbled.

Harlow nodded her head and left the infirmary.

Katherine sat completely still for a full minute before her body started trembling and tears of frustration slipped down her cheeks. She buried her face into her hands and cried until her tears stopped coming and she was sure that her eyes were puffy and red. Feeling pathetic and disappointed with herself, Katherine wiped away the tears from her cheeks, though she knew it wouldn't do much. If anyone looked at her, they would see her eyes and the tear streaks on her cheeks and know she had been crying.

"I have already screwed up."

 **~D~**

 **Another chapter complete.**

 **As of right now, Katherine is not in a great place; she's timid, weak, and unsure of herself. But it won't continue like this. She'll grow into a strong person as she adjusts and finds out who she is as a person.**


	6. Dislike

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent**

 **I was so disappointed this morning. I found out my step grandma wasn't doing Thanksgiving dinner – because she is sick – and we were on our own. My mother is making a ham, because we don't have a turkey and she doesn't want to go buy one. I was soooo looking forward to eating turkey with potatoes, bread rolls, and LOTS of stuffing on my cheat-day for my diet. (I am on a diet. Not because I am overweight, but for a personal choice of trying to get into a healthier eating style).**

 **Any ways, I also wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. It makes me feel more confident with my writing skills when I see that people are enjoying my story, and it also makes me happy. So thank you all!**

 **~D~**

As Katherine patiently waited for Harlow and her brother to return to the infirmary, she realized something that made her panic. Her mother's small blue journal was gone as she had been changed out of her clothes into a loose black t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Luckily, she was still wearing her heart-shaped locket.

 _I have to find it._ That was all she could think about at the moment.

Katherine pushed her blankets away and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her bare feet touched the cold concrete ground of the infirmary. Using the bedside table for support, Katherine rose to her feet, her legs trembling slightly. She took a small step forward, smiling in victory when she didn't immediately fall forward on her face.

The first place Katherine checked was the single drawer of the bedside table; however, the blue journal wasn't in there. Only her clothes were.

Katherine slowly made her way across the infirmary to where the long counter with the sinks were, as well as the row of dark cabinets. She checked all the unlocked drawers and cabinets, rummaging through them, but she only found medical supplies.

 _Where is it,_ she scowled as she looked around the infirmary. Her eyes landed on the open door leading into Harlow's office. _There! It is probably in her office._ She sped up her pace just a bit, limping over to the office.

"What are you doing?!"

Katherine stopped in her spot and turned around.

Harlow was coming into the infirmary with an angry expression on her face. Following along just behind her was Katherine's brother.

"Er…" Katherine didn't know what to say. Normally, she would have no trouble being honest, but this was a personal matter.

"Whatever, Stiff." Harlow waved it off. "I'll let this go. Just this once. If I catch you sneaking around the infirmary again, you won't be so lucky next time."

Katherine let out a sigh of relief. She didn't think she would've been able to come up with a good excuse. Plus, Harlow seemed to be able to easily tell when she was lying.

"Four, you'll have to help her walk. She'll just exhaust herself again before she even makes it to Max's office." Harlow instructed Four, placing her hands on her hips and looking stern.

"It didn't look like she was having too many problems just now." Tobias commented while looking at Katherine.

Harlow smacked him on the arm. "Just help the girl out, would you? No need to be a jackass."

Tobias rolled his eyes and made his way over to Katherine. He took her left hand into his own, making sure her palm was resting against his fist, then wrapped his other arm around her waist. Bearing most of Katherine's weight against his side, Tobias slowly began to walk with her towards the exit of the infirmary.

"Good luck." Harlow told Katherine when she walked by with Tobias.

"Thank you." Katherine said in return, glancing over her shoulder as she left the infirmary.

Together, Katherine and Tobias walked down the long, narrow and confusing halls of the Dauntless Headquarters. Neither of them glanced at one another or attempted to make conversation. For Katherine, it was partially because she wasn't even sure what she could begin to say. She didn't want to mention hearing what Tobias had said to her, knowing it would only embarrass him.

"I have it." Tobias finally spoke, his voice low and quiet, even though there was no one around to overhear.

"What?" Katherine looked up at him in confusion.

"Mother's blue journal. I saw you had it on you, so I took it for safekeeping." Tobias told her, then he quickly added, "Just in case."

"I thought I lost it," she admitted. "I was worried."

"I will give it back to you when I have a chance."

Katherine rested her head against Tobias' shoulder, her voice muffled by his jacket as she said, "Thank you for keeping it safe, Tobi."

Tobias' grip on Katherine tightened. "You shouldn't have chosen Dauntless… you should have chosen Amity." He laughed hollowly. "I _thought_ you would choose Amity."

"What do you mean? Why shouldn't I have transferred to Dauntless?" She demanded. "Do you think I am weak? That I can't handle it?

"You just shouldn't have."

Katherine shook her head. "That isn't an answer, Tobi."

"You _know_ what I am talking about." Tobias practically snapped at her, nearly causing Katherine to jerk away from him. "They _will_ find out about you here."

"I don't understand. Why–?"

Tobias smoothly cut her off. "This isn't the place to talk about this."

"But –"

"Katherine," his voice was firm as he spoke. "We can talk later. Okay? For now, you have to remain under the radar and not attract attention to yourself. _Do not_ let anyone find out about you. Understood?"

Katherine wanted to argue with him, but she knew better than to do that. Instead, she simply nodded her head and didn't talk for the rest of the walk.

 **~D~**

"Stand straight, look Max in the eye, and don't show any signs of weakness. You got that?" Tobias instructed Katherine once they had stopped in front of a large, mahogany door.

"Yes," Katherine mumbled.

"And don't mumble either." Her brother added, releasing his hold on her. He raised his fist and knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

Tobias opened the door and stepped inside with Katherine following closely behind him. Once inside the office, Tobias closed the door behind them, while Katherine took the chance to quickly look around. It was a large office with a huge wooden desk that had two chairs placed in front of it. On top of the desk was a laptop, a tablet, a couple of pens as well as a stack of documents and papers. There was a bookcase off to the side of the room and a potted plant of some sort, which Katherine immediately assumed was fake. There were paintings on the walls, showing former leaders, and the carpet of the office was red.

This was definitely not what Katherine had expected a Dauntless leader's office to look like. It was… professional-looking.

Standing beside Max's desk was a bored-looking Eric.

"Four." Max greeted.

Tobias inclined his head. "Max." His eyes drifted to the side. " _Eric_."

Katherine spared a brief glance at her brother. He had spoken Eric's name like it was poison, and he most certainly did not look happy to see the blonde-haired man standing in Max's office.

"And you must be Katherine." Max addressed Katherine.

Katherine stood straight with her arms at her side and locked eyes with Max. "Yes, sir."

"I heard you pulled Eric off the edge." Max said, looking somewhat amused.

"I… er… I didn't mean to, sir." Katherine replied. She could see Eric scowling. "I apologize."

Max waved it off. "It is fine," he laughed. "I found it quite amusing, actually. It is not every day that someone makes a spectacle out of Eric."

Now Eric was glaring at her. Katherine gulped.

"That aside, we need to discuss the issue of your training." Max moved on, leaning forward and resting his chin on his interlocked fingers. "You are three days behind in your training, which puts you at a serious disadvantage."

"I am positive I can easily help her catch up." Tobias said right away.

Max shook his head. "No need to stretch yourself, Four. You already have ten other initiates to watch over." He gestured to Eric. "Which is why I will be putting Eric in charge of catching her up."

Tobias clenched his fists and his jaw twitched. Katherine could tell he wanted to say something, but was holding himself back.

"You can give the girl a tour of the place before you start training." Max told Eric.

"Of course," Eric nodded his head.

"Good," Max leaned back in his chair. "This meeting is finished then."

Tobias spun on his heel and was the first one to leave the office. Katherine knew her brother was angry and irritated, and had to get out before he did something he would regret. She wished that she could've called his name out, but doing something like that would not help the current situation.

Eric stepped up to Katherine's side, placing his hand on her lower back and guiding her out of the room. He was grinning viciously as he looked down at her and said, "Follow me, Stiff."

 **~D~**

As Katherine followed Eric through the halls of the Dauntless Headquarters, she was forced to pick up her pace, having to half-jog to keep up with his long, quick strides. If Eric noticed her struggling to keep up, he certainly did not care because his pace didn't slow down at all. Luckily for Katherine, the Healing Serum was doing its job and she could feel her headache receding as well as the pain from her aching body, allowing Katherine to at least keep somewhat of a steady pace.

Eric and Katherine passed by the huge net where she and the other initiates had entered the Headquarters and back down the vaguely familiar, narrow tunnel where she had passed out. The tunnel came out onto a ledge overlooking a deep pit in the ground with a glass roof. The large underground cavern was full of people milling about, laughing, shouting, having fun, and joking about. Katherine could see that there was several shops built into the walls on the ground level as well as higher up, connected by narrows steps and walkways which didn't have railings or barriers.

"This is the Pit." Eric told Katherine, gesturing to the area down below them. "You can find all your shops here for food, clothing, supplies, and leisure activities." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, shoving it into Katherine's hand. "On that card, you'll be given an allowance of points to buy with you need throughout the duration of training."

Katherine glanced at the card in her hand. It felt foreign and uncomfortable. She had never been allowed to buy whatever she wanted before, and she wasn't even sure what she _would_ buy with her points.

"Hurry along, Stiff!"

Shoving the card into the pocket of her sweatpants, Katherine followed Eric down a pair of narrow steps that led into the Pit, going at her own pace which she was comfortable with. She made sure to watch her feet and where she placed them as she walked – the last thing she wanted to do was topple over the side to her untimely demise.

"Took you long enough, Stiff." Eric snapped when Katherine reached the bottom of the steps. He was standing there with his arms crossed and a look of irritation on his face.

"I didn't really want to die, thank you very much." Katherine blurted out without thinking, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Immediately, she clasped a hand over her mouth, looking at Eric with wide, shocked eyes. Yet again, she had taken a tone with Eric which she had never used before.

Eric stepped closer to Katherine, towering a foot over her, with a dangerous look in his eyes. Katherine had to clench her fists, digging her nails into her palms, so she wouldn't shrink away from him. "Initiate," he spoke in an eerily calm, yet deadly voice, "this is the _second_ time you have talked back."

"I-I… I'm sorry, sir." Katherine mumbled, unable to bring herself to look up at Eric.

"Look at me when I am speaking to you, initiate."

Katherine breathed deeply, gathering her nerves, and looked up at Eric. Her eyes locked with his eyes. Even though it had been nine years ago when Katherine had first met Eric, she could still remember how his blueish-gray eyes had once been friendly and inviting. Now they were hard, cold, and held no emotion as far as Katherine could tell. She didn't like that.

Eric leaned down, his breath ghosting over Katherine's cheek as he hissed, "Learn your place and shut it, _or else_ …"

"Yes, sir." Katherine said right away. She knew better than to argue. It was already clear that Eric obviously didn't like her, and she did not want to tempt fate by furthering his anger and dislike of her to another level.

Giving her one last deadly look, Eric stepped back from Katherine. "Time to finish the tour, Stiff."

Breathing in-and-out deeply in an attempt to calm her racing heart, Katherine followed Eric through the crowded Pit. He didn't even have to say anything; people just instantly moved out of Eric's way when they saw him coming, making it easier for Katherine to hurry after him. She figured that most people feared they would incur Eric's wrath if they did not get out of his way quick enough.

Eric made his way over to the right side of the Pit, an area which was dark and ominous-looking. Katherine stepped into the shadowing darkness to see that the concrete floor she was standing on dropped off at a sudden, sharp angle to a ravine. There was a long metal bridge stretching out before her to the other end. Only one side of the metal bridge had a railing, while the other side was left open. Anyone could tumble over the side to their death, falling several stories down into the fast-moving, running water which crashed against sharp rocks.

"This is the Chasm." Eric stated as he walked onto the bridge, motioning for Katherine to follow him. She did, feeling more nervous with each word Eric said to her. "Every once in a while, some idiot will think themselves invincible and jump over the edge. Or _fall_. Of course, they _always_ die."

Katherine glanced at Eric out of the corner of her eye. At any moment, he could push her over the edge if he felt like it. No one would know the truth if he did; after all, Eric would only have to tell people that she took a wrong step and slipped, falling off the side of the bridge to her death. Being a leader would also probably help to strengthen his story and make people less likely to question him. _Would he do it, though?_ She wondered, and that was the real question. He certainly made it seem like he would.

Eric passed by Katherine, hitting her shoulder with his, nearly causing her to lose her balance because of how much bigger and taller he was than her. Biting her lip to keep herself from saying something rude to him, Katherine gladly hurried off the metal bridge and trailed behind Eric through a series of confusing hallways.

At the end of each hallway was a blue lamp, but in-between them the hall was dark. _Do the Dauntless set everything up like this just to make life difficult,_ she thought in frustration. She had to keep her eyes trained on the ground so she could watch her step. The last thing she wanted to do was trip over the uneven ground or her own feet in front of Eric. She could only imagine how mortifying that would be.

Eric came to a sudden halt in front of a wooden door and Katherine slammed into his back, practically rebounding off of him. She nearly landed on the ground on her butt, but Eric turned around just in time and grabbed her wrist, pulling her upright and steadying her. He glared at her and snapped, "Watch where you are walking, initiate."

 _Maybe that wouldn't have happened if you told me we were stopping,_ she mentally hissed, nearly allowing the words to roll off her tongue. She didn't know why, but something about Eric made her want to speak up and say something, to defend herself and fight back.

Releasing his hold on her, Eric turned and opened the wooden door. He stepped aside, gesturing for Katherine to walk in. "Ladies first."

Katherine stepped into the room and looked around. It was a dormitory room filled with several beds. Further to the back of the room was the bathroom and showering area; it was dirty and disgusting, and everything was open without any privacy.

"This is where you'll be staying for the duration of training." Eric informed her.

"Boys and girls?"

Eric smirked. "Yes."

Katherine flushed. She would have to change, shower and do her private business in front of all the other initiates. She had _never_ been naked in front of anyone who wasn't part of her family before. The idea wasn't appealing to her at all.

"Now onto some ground rules." Eric said. "Since you have three days' worth of training to catch up on, we'll be starting at six o'clock. Training will take place from six to seven-thirty, with a _short_ break for lunch. You are free to do whatever you like after seven-thirty. You will also get time off between each stage of initiation. And you are _only_ permitted to leave the compound when accompanied by a Dauntless."

Katherine stared at Eric, hardly believing what she was hearing. She would have to train for thirteen hours and a half with Eric, and that number didn't include whatever time she might be allocated for her lunch break.

"Furthermore," Eric went on, "in the first stage of initiation, we keep the transfers and the Dauntless-born initiates separate, but you are _not_ evaluated separately. At the end of initiation, the rankings of all the transfers – meaning _your ranking_ , Stiff – will be compared with that of the Dauntless-born initiates. And since the Dauntless-born are better than you already, and you have missed three days of training, I expect you will not do that well." He shrugged and looked like he didn't care.

Giving Eric a fake and pleasant smile, Katherine asked, "What is the point of these rankings?"

"The first purpose is to determine which job you will be able to select after initiation." Now Eric smirked. "And the second purpose is that only the top ten initiates will become members of Dauntless, while the rest will be cut and left to become factionless."

Katherine felt whatever little confidence she had in herself shrivel away and die. With the position she was currently in – being a shy, withdrawn girl from Abnegation and having missed three days of training – her chances had just become nonexistent. _I should not have chosen Dauntless,_ she wanted to cry, _Tobias was right… I should've chosen Amity_.

"Get moving, Stiff." Eric ordered, pushing her in the direction of the wooden door.

"Where are we going?" Katherine asked before she could stop herself.

"Lunch," he growled at her. "Then we'll be starting training."

 _Lunch,_ she thought, _and then I start what could possibly be the start of my own doom_.

 **~D~**

 **Chapter six is now done! I must say… I have been on a roll these past few days and I am proud of myself. I got chapters for two of my other stories –** _ **Always and Forever**_ **and** _ **Fruit of the Poisoned Tree**_ **– finished and then I updated them. And now I finished this chapter.**

 **Katherine will be doing some extreme training to catch up with the other initiates. I might push back the one-on-one fighting just so Katherine won't be walking into that late.**

 **And as of right now, Katherine is feeling like she won't make it. Her brother has told her she shouldn't have transferred to Dauntless; Eric isn't happy with her for pulling him off the edge; and she is three days behind in training and faces being cut. In my story, I don't want Katherine to just go into training and suddenly be amazing. I want her to struggle, to learn, and to eventually grow into someone who is proud, brave, strong and confident in who she is as a person.**


End file.
